DuPont’s Weedkiller Divides Farmers 

The result of Dicamba drift on Soybean plants grown from Non-GMO seeds.

Dicamba is one of DuPont’s top-selling products; an herbicide used alongside the Monsanto company’s GMO-seeds, which are genetically altered and designed to resist the aforementioned, toxic weed-killing chemical. Yet, rifts between farmers, namely between those who use the herbicide and those who refuse to, peaked this past summer in Arkansas. If not for the familiar reason that Dicamba’s drift continues to impact more than wildlife and beehives, it is now obvious to farmers across states that the affects extend beyond the pigweed it’s designed for. Last month the discord reached the all time high when a fight between two farmers led to a death by shooting.

In addition to killing the tenacious weeds, which farmers consider a taint to their ‘clean’ rows of soybeans (and a chief reason for why farmers choose to use such herbicides), it’s damaging to surrounding trees and wildflowers that are an important source of habitat to birds, critters, and pollinators. The use of Dicamaba is an ever-increasing public health and environmental issue for those living in rural areas and working in agriculture, but also for consumers nationwide. We can make our voices heard by choosing Organic and by spreading the news of Dicamba’s ill-effects on our food system. 

A New Film on the Issue of Food Waste

From Executive Producer, Anthony Bourdain, comes the new film, Wasted! The Story of Food Waste, which highlights not only the pressing issue of food waste, but the solutions that are currently being served up by thought leaders and chefs. Featured in the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, Wasted! will be  available this Friday, October 13th; in theatres, On Demand, Amazon and iTunes.

Pruitt Submits Proposal to Repeal the Clean Power Plan

According to the New York Times, the repeal proposal was filed in the Federal Register on Tuesday, Oct. 11th, aiding President Trump with his promise to eradicate Obama’s environmental legacy.

“Eliminating the Clean Power Plan makes it less likely that the United States can fulfill its promise as part of the Paris Climate Agreement to ratchet down emissions that are warming the planet and contributing to heat waves and sea-level rise. In announcing the repeal, Mr. Pruitt made many of the same arguments that he had made for years to Congress and in lawsuits: that the Obama administration exceeded its legal authority in an effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. (Last year, the Supreme Court blocked the rule from taking effect while courts assessed those lawsuits.)” – NY Times

“A 43-page draft of the proposal, which was obtained by The Washington Post and other news outlets last week, argues that the agency overstepped its legal authority in seeking to force utilities to reduce carbon emissions outside their actual facilities to meet federal emissions targets. It does not offer a replacement plan for regulating emissions of carbon dioxide, which the Supreme Court has ruled that the EPA is obligated to do. Rather, the agency said it plans to seek public input on how best to cut emissions from natural-gas and coal-fired power plants.” – The Washington Post

It’s Been 40 Years Since the Food Stamps Act

September 29 marked the 40th anniversary of the Food Stamp Act’s signing, and during the ensuing years “the law has been strengthened on a bipartisan basis,” wrote Jared Bernstein, former chief economist to Vice President Biden, and Ben Spielberg, who works with Bernstein at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, in this blog post.

According to the Food Research and Action Center, SNAP provides critical support to 41 million Americans and responds quickly to natural disasters. In 2014, SNAP lifted eight million people, including four million children, out of poverty. Because the program quickly responds to economic downturns and provides economic stimulus, it “must not be turned into a ‘block grant.’” Block grant programs “are not nearly as responsive to the state of the economy.”